Sherry

Jerez is the home of sherry, and is located in Spain's southernmost region northwest of Gibraltar. Here the sparse rainfall is absorbed in the Chalk soil and is drawn out by the vines in the hot summer. The D.O. or Denominacion de Origen is the official designation of the various wine regions of Spain. Here the D.O. is named after the capital of the province, Jerez ( or Xeres ) de la Frontera, whose corrupt English form is "sherry." Sherry has long been associated with England, and to this day the names of many famous Sherry houses are of British origin, and many are British owned.

The alcoholic strength of Sherry is increased by the addition of grape brandy after fermentation. The wine is purposely oxidized by storing it in wood barrels only two-thirds full with wine, with a loose stopper in the barrel hole, allowing air to invade the wine.

Ninety percent of all Sherry is made from the Palomino grape, which grows on the albariza soil ( 40% Chalk ). This grape makes a base wine of 10% alcohol, with good fruit, average acidity, and a coarse character. The other important grape is the Pedro Ximenez (named after Peter Siemons, a German who introduced the grape to Spain), which is used mostly for the production of sweet Sherries, or for sweetening and coloring the wine before bottling. The Pedro Ximenez grape is grown on barros soil, which is richer in clay, and on arenas that is sandier. Moscatel grapes are also grown on these soils and is also used for coloring and sweetening. These two grapes are dried in the sun to concentrate their sugars. Palamino grapes are no longer treated this way. The object in modern Sherry making is to have a wine with low sugar and tannin content, but with the highest possible degree of acidity.

After fermentation, all Sherries are dry white wines with 11 to 14% alcohol. The wine maker adds neutral grape spirits to the young wine to increase the alcohol to about 15.5%. While the wine is stored over the winter, it is watched and tasted carefully, and classified as either fino or oloroso. Fino is very pale, delicate, and dry; oloroso is heavy and dark. It is nature that classifies the wines more than the wine maker, since no one can predict which characteristics each barrel will develop.

The most important element in the development of fino character is the natural occurrence of a dense, white, frothy yeast on the surface of the wine. This yeast is called flor, and its formation restricts the amount of air that gets to the wine, thereby keeping the wine pale and delicate under a virtual blanket of yeast. Fino (and Manzanilla, a fino made in Sanlucar de Barrameda) is kept from oxidizing by the flor. Oloroso, for some reason not completely understood by winemakers or scientists, does not develop the yeast. Sometimes, after the flor presents itself, it diminishes and disappears, allowing oxidation and creating yet a third classification of Sherry, amontillado. This wine becomes slightly fuller and darker than a fino, but not nearly as heavy as an oloroso.

Once the Sherries are classified, they are placed in soleras, the system devised to age Sherry and ensure a consistent quality and style. Each category of sherry has its own solera, or network of large barrels, all of them two-thirds full. Here the wines are aged. The solera consists of several rows of barrels stored in tiers ( or Criaderas ). There are typically nine to 14 criaderas in a solera system although some manzanilla sherries can be made from as many as 19 tiers. The bottom row, called the solera, represents the oldest blend of wines in the system. The top tier is two-thirds full of the youngest blend of wines. When a producer wishes to bottle, up to one-third of the wine will be removed from the bottom row of barrels and be replenished from the row just above and so on and so on.

The solera system provides for consistent quality, style and flavor. The younger wine refreshes the older wine and takes on the character and complexity of the older wine. There is very little vintage sherry made and if you happen to see a non-vintage sherry with a year "Solera 1872" for example, it means that the oldest barrels were begun with the 1872 and some molecules of that wine may be present in the bottom barrels.

Fino - pale, dry and delicate, with 15.5 to 17% alcohol

Manzanilla - A fino from the coastal town of Sanlucar de Barameda. It is said to take on a slightly salty tang with the same alcohol content as fino.

Amontillado - Slightly fuller and darker with a nutty flavor and a slight hint of sweetness with 18 to 21% alcohol.

Palo Cortado - A rare sherry with little or no flor, with the nose of amontillado and the flavor and color of oloroso. Contains 18 to 20 % alcohol.

Oloroso - Full bodied, rich, and dark up to 20% alcohol.

Cream - Very sweet oloroso, made by blending with Pedro Ximenez and Moscatel grapes or a sweet grape concentrate. 17.5% alcohol.

Madeira

The island of madeira, located about 400 miles west of Morocco, was claimed by Potugal in 1418. The legend has it that the island was set afire to clear the land and that it burned for seven years thus enriching the volcanic soil. By 1455 the Madeira vineyards were flourishing. Experience proved that Madeira was wonderfully improved by long sea voyages, where it was shaken and exposed to the sweltering heat of the tropics from the hold of a ship. The Americans were the first to profit from these new wines and the very finest were shipped directly to the wealthy shipowners of Boston, Charleston, New York, and Philadelphia, for their own use. Each family boasted Madeira's of its own, styled by the family name, or perhaps by the name of the ship from which the wine landed.

When this process became too expensive a new technique was employed, heating of the room where the wine was stored. The Madeira estufas, heated cellars, in which the vinho claro undergoes the ordeal of heat, were introduced in the first years of the nineteenth century. The series of heated chambers at different temperatures enable each shipper to make his own style. The vinho claro leaves the estufas as vinho estufado to be racked and fortified with spirit, becoming vinho generoso and ready to be blended. Madeira is probably the world's most resilient and longest lived wine.

The Modern Estufas

Lined concrete tanks with heated coil in the middle. For Bulk Madeira

600 liter wooden casks stored in warm rooms heated by steam pipes. For the finer types.

600 liter wooden casks stowed in the eaves of lodges in Funchal, heated only by the sun. Aged from 20 to 100 or more years and then bottled.

The island has terraced vineyards up to 2625 feet above sea level. The rainfall is heavy, yet the vines benefit from an elaborate irrigation system, necessary because of the porous soil. The vines are trained high to avoid rot, and the best sites are south facing.

Styles

Sercial: Cooler sites, dry tart and astringent, develops almond-like aroma, dry.

Verdelho: Cooler north side of the island, medium dry, smoky and high acidity.

Bual: Warmer locations with higher sugar levels, dark medium rich, raisiny acidic.

Malmsey: Malvasia grapes, lower warmer sites, sweet gaining in richness and concentration with time in cask, balanced by acidity.

Marsala

For over 200 years Marsala has been one of Sicily's most famous products. Although it was invented by an English merchant by the name of John Woodhouse. He noted the strong similarity to the wines of Spain and Portugal. In 1773 he added the grape spirit to fermenting wine being shipped to England. Of the various Italian houses founded in the 19th Century only Rallo and Pellegrino remain today.

Marsala can be fortified not only by alcohol but also by pure alcohol added to a must of late-picked, overripe grapes. Modern Marsala comes in three colors, Oro or gold, Ambra or amber, and Rubino or ruby. Each color comes in a secco, semisecco, and sweet version. Five other types are defined by different lengths of cask aging, they are one year for Fine, two years for Superiore, four years for Superiore Riserva, five years for Vergine, and ten years for Stravecchio Vergine.